Would the fate persist on the Artemis mission?
Tropical Storm Nicole was heading for the east coast of Florida on Tuesday, where NASA's new moon rocket remained on its launch pad for a takeoff attempt scheduled in less than a week, but which could be disturbed.
The storm, which is currently over the Atlantic Ocean, is expected to develop into a hurricane on Wednesday near the Bahamas, before making landfall in Florida on Wednesday night or Thursday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). .
A hurricane alert has been issued on the coast, where the Kennedy Space Center is located, from where the rocket is to take off.
Nicole has transformed from a subtropical to a tropical strom.
Nicole is forecast to make landfall along the east coast of Florida and turn north.
Minimal impacts to NWFL.
We will see and increase in winds as well as increase in surf.
Rain will stay east of our area.
pic.twitter.com/bWB3KhhEQx
— Brooke Richardson (@WeatherBrooke) November 8, 2022
Some observers even worried about the integrity of the SLS rocket in the face of strong winds, which could potentially carry debris.
However, on Monday, NASA announced that it had decided, based on the forecasts then available, to leave the rocket on its launch pad, where it had been placed only a few days ago.
What are the risks for the rocket?
The 98 m high machine had to be returned to its assembly building at the end of September, a few kilometers away, to be protected from Hurricane Ian.
Chief engineer for the rocket, John Blevins, explained at the time that NASA teams were monitoring a specific threshold: "To stay on the launch pad, we want to see peak winds of less than 74, 1 knots”, or 137 km / h, he said.
Early Tuesday afternoon, Nicole's sustained winds reached "100 km/h with higher gusts," according to the NHC.
And the storm is expected to strengthen further.
NASA said on Monday "assessing the status of the takeoff attempt" scheduled for November 14 based on changing weather conditions.
The value of the rocket, which has never flown before and whose takeoff had been canceled at the last moment twice this summer due to technical problems, is estimated at several billion dollars.
A pending mission
The Artemis 1 test mission, without an astronaut on board, is to mark the very first flight of the major American program back to the Moon.
The rocket was originally scheduled to take off in late August, but the mission has been postponed several times since to resolve technical issues.
The Artemis program should make it possible to take the first woman and the first person of color to the Moon, in 2025 at the earliest.
NASA also wants to establish a lasting human presence there, including the construction of a space station in orbit around the Moon.
For the American space agency, this is a step that should then allow a first trip to Mars.
